Prey for the Weak
by Rakata Imari
Summary: Fate comes full circle and the dying swordsmen of the Meiji are the prey, as Soujiro finds his truth.


Prey for the Weak

By: Illia Sadri

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Disclaimer: I know nothing and if any exec asks about this as far as copyright infringement then I simply do not exist.

Author Notes: Yes a Soujiro fanfic in his days of wandering. Not particularly original. Only thing is everyone presumes that he chooses the exact same path as Kenshin and sees error in his ways. So I wanted to do a one shot of what would happen if he didn't follow the path of Kenshin necessarily and not the one set by Shishio. His own path for his own redemption.

I am generally one who is against pointless tossing in of Japanese words into fan fiction but in this case, Kenshin is a series that is very Japanese in nature and thus there is no getting around using certain terms as there are no American equivalents. Most of these are ones that appear in the show anyway and thus should offer rather few difficulties in reading for anyone who has seen the series.

A furious knocking at the door awoke Kaoru from her slumber. Disoriented, she looked outside the window and realized that it was still well into the night. It seemed slightly odd that a visitor would be calling upon them at such an hour.

  
She attempted to sit up only to realize that at one point her husband had moved so that an arm and leg both hung over Kaoru's feminine body, pinning her down. She cautiously attempted to move him a bit so she could get up without waking the redhead as the knocking became more furious.

Quietly she crept to the door, not thinking to dress in something more appropriate than her nightclothes. Before she slid the door open she grabbed in the darkness until her hand came across one of her wooden bokken. Over the years Kenshin had made plenty of enemies as well as allies and she was not going to make it easy on them should they thing to attack her as an easy target.

"Who's there?" she demanded as she finally slid the entrance door a bit and peered at a figure, hunched over his knees and dirty looking, as though he hadn't bathed in quite some time.

The figure didn't reply as it took all of his strength to look up at the woman, catching sight of her bulging belly that was a sign of pregnancy. As she stood in surprise and shock he felt his strength give out further, fully collapsing on the porch.

Instantly Kaoru was at the young man's side, dragging the lip body inside the house. Scurrying for an oil lamp as to see to this late night visitor eventually the main room of the dojo was illuminated in a soft yellow light. 

He looked rather young and his lips, despite such obvious pain were turned up in a small smile. His hakama was rough and dirty and threadbare in more than a few places as was the thin yukata that he wore. His thick dark hair fell cross his forehead at places, matted in blood and hug to near his shoulders. 

A strangled cough brought Kaoru's attention back to his physical condition. She noticed two holes in the fabric, where blood oozed from. "Someone shot you?" he muttered to herself, now curious as to what had happened as few besides the police had access to firearms of any sort. 

The woman jumped in surprise when she felt warm hands on her shoulder. She turned to see the sleepy face of her husband, having been awoken in the commotion. "I didn't mean to frighten you." he said with a slight smile before fully seeing the state of the visitor laying on the floor. "Soujiro Seta."

Upon hearing his name the young man turned his head, looking up at the couple. "Yes…" he replied, unable to manage more as his head swam from the pain that went through his body.

"You mean to say…" Kaoru began, shocked upon hearing the name of the past once more, "Shishio… one of his…" she trailed off.

Kenshin nodded and gave a slight smile before taking a closer look at his old nemesis. He looked as though he had followed the path of a wanderer, perhaps seeking his own truth as was said after their duel. But it seems he has returned only to be ready to die. "It has been awhile that it has."

A slight nod came from the injured man as Kaoru attempted to slip his ratty clothing from his body. "Four years….. hasn't it?" he said, his smile not faltering despite the pain that came through with every struggled breath.

"I should go get Miss Megumi." Kaoru suggested, knowing the woman was one of the finest doctors in Tokyo. 

As she got up a small, thin hand gently held onto her night robe. "No… Can't do… anything." he muttered, withholding his body's desire to scream as his body shook, jarring the bullet imbedded under his ribs. 

"He has sustained a wound not even Miss Megumi could take care of." Kenshin agreed. "All we could manage is to make him comfortable until this life ends for him." he said sadly. Many times had passed where he had contemplated the fates of his former foes. Occasionally he heard word of one having committed suicide, unable to move on past the life of killing and violence. Of course there were some who did change for the better, opening a shop in some rapidly growing town. However, Soujiro was indeed one who had simply disappeared in general.

Kaoru however, was not content to simply watch someone die as she insisted. "Who did this to you? Nobody has a gun to shoot with except…"

"Meiji…." Soujiro replied, a hint of bitterness on his otherwise non-expressive face. "Same as… Shishio."

Those words struck Kenshin hard as he struggled to deal with what it indicated. He had known that the Meiji government still kept a handful of assassins to act against political opponents. However, very little of the current batch was known, and few of their names were known even to the police who patrolled Tokyo. "Your deal with the government I presume?"

A nod of the head came in reply. "I couldn't… run any longer…. So I turned…. Myself into them." Soujiro struggled to catch his breath as he felt blood rising in his throat. "Didn't… want to…. But they gave me…. No real choice."

"And then when they were done with you they decided to kill you just like they tried with Shishio." Kenshin finished, placing a hand to Soujiro's forehead as he checked to feel his now rising temperature. There was most likely only a couple hours left at most before the one nicknamed Tenken would die.

Kaoru went out the door of the dojo, stopping momentarily to slip on her shoes and to grab the small bucket that sat next to the door. She couldn't stand to hear it, about how a government that claimed to protect the weak would betray like that. To use assassins and dispose of them… leave them to wander in the middle of the night to find somewhere to die.

The injured man took hold of the red head's hand, squeezing as his eyes closed. "Shishio was right… the weak die… Because I let… my guard… down" he was panting heavily at this point, sweat forming on his forehead. 

Those words sliced through Kenshin with more force than any sword. He had hoped that perhaps Soujiro would find another way that would work, and see that the world was not a case of survival of the fittest, that the weak could be protected and no lives lost. However, he understood that the dying young man before him had never had the chance to live another life. 

"I tried though…." Soujiro forced himself to continue, "I tried to… live your fantasy. I tried… It was nice… to not kill… If only… your world actually…. Existed… Where the weak could… live… and be protected…. But it isn't like that… Not when I was… a child…. And not now." he could feel his body giving out as he saw through the corner of his eyes and saw Kaoru return, balancing the bucket of water in her hands and placing a cool cloth across his forehead.

"I understand, that I do." Kenshin said after a moment of debate. He could understand as it had been difficult at times to not return to the Battosai. And governments were sadly prone to corruption and hypocrisy.   
  
Still, to hear Soujiro come to his own conclusion that it is inevitable for the weak to die hurt. It was obvious from how worn he looked, beyond the injuries, that he had undergone much stress and had tried to find an alternative. Kenshin didn't believe he truly wanted to die, his eyes told him that much. No, they had the same haunted look of his own following the revolution and he recalled the death he caused.

Kaoru continued to soak the small cloth and kept replacing it on the feverish skin until Soujiro coughed again, this time blood trickling from his mouth. The woman had wanted to flinch at the sight but held her wits so she could wipe it away and offering a smile of comfort. "It will be okay. Just rest now."

It had been a battle to keep awake this long, but he wanted to cling on. Soujiro Seta, the Tenken, couldn't let himself go so easily. The years of influence of Shishio remained and even in dying he wanted to do it with pride, not following the footsteps of his master, a former manslayer as well. "I… I'm sorry." he said, struggling not to choke as he spoke. "I guess…. There… isn't… salvation for me." 

"You cannot change what you did in the past, no you cannot." Kenshin explained, silently taking note that with the quickened breathing and the blood loss it was not going to be much longer. "I will always live with the past as a manslayer. However, I chose to protect those around me. That is my redemption. I can tell in your eyes you hold much regret for your past as well. If you carry it into the next life then you can still repent and live a peaceful life. Maybe you can find the peaceful world that has evaded you even in the Meiji era. But just rest now."

His vision was fading, or his eyes were drooping. Soujiro couldn't decide which it was. It didn't seem to hurt as much now. A numbness was starting to overcome him. He looked up at them, realizing that he was still smiling. Was it real or not he couldn't tell. He could never tell what emotions were in the first place. 

Finally he let his eyes shut, his mouth silently forming the words "Thank you." as his last image, of his old foe overlooking with concern embedded in his mind. He had found peace in that.   
  
He decided before his mind went shut that if he were reincarnated he would like to live a peaceful life, just to see what it is like. So maybe he could see if it was really worth protecting others or if Shishio's words were true human nature.

Kenshin and Kaoru remained seated in silence as they noticed the sun rising, the navy sky gradually going through its waves of color to day. But they remained next to the body of a peacefully sleeping Soujiro, watching as he struggled more to breathe. Every time a cough brought up more blood Kaoru wiped it away with one hand while Kenshin held on to her other.

Finally by the time day had come they noticed that their visitor had gone pale and still, not even his chest moving as there was no breath. 

"Kenshin… it's over." Kaoru announced finally.

Kenshin nodded. "I suppose. Go rest now. I'll go into town look into funeral arrangements with the temple."

Kaoru nodded as she quickly rose and looked through a closet, returning with a thin blanket, which she draped over the shell of the body on the floor. "I suppose one of us should tell Yahiko that you won't be giving him lessons today."

Another nod and a gesture toward their bedroom followed. "I will take care of everything. I want you to take care of yourself and the baby, that I do. I am sure Yahiko will understand once he awakens and sees for himself anyway.

"I suppose." Kaoru said as she finally disappeared from the main room to get some more rest, all the while making a valiant effort to remain strong all through the night, of which Kenshin took notice.

Walking from the dojo the red haired man let him mind wander back to when he was attempting to put down Shishio's attempt to overthrow the Meiji government. That was the only life Soujiro knew. And he was not the only one to have died over the past several years since he returned to Tokyo.

How he had hoped that in one case he had been able to get through to that one boy and protect him when nobody else did.

Maybe he wasn't a manslayer anymore by his sword but sometimes it seemed that way in many who crossed his path would find their life's end as a result of him. Maybe he wasn't as good at protecting everyone as he thought. 

Maybe there was some truth in the weak dying.

Or perhaps now in the era of dying samurai and swordsmen they were merely prey to the weak.


End file.
